Washington, Jan 16: Whoopi Goldberg has praised late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry for representing black people in his iconic science-fiction show.

Roddenberry, who passed away in 1991, hired African-American actress Nichelle Nichols a lead character in the original 1969 TV series, at a time when the black community wasn''t well represented in sci-fi programmes.

And the Oscar-winner said the TV legend's actions inspired her to take on a role in the show''s successful spin-off, `Star Trek: The Next Generation'.

"Other science-fiction movies you saw had no black people in them anywhere. Isn''t that something? I wanted to carry on that tradition. It wasn''t until I did Star Trek that people thought I could do sci-fi," Contactmusic quoted her, as saying.

Goldberg also confessed that her dream job would be a permanent role in sci-fi movies.

"If I could be doing sci-fi and horror all the time I would be doing it. I have loved it since I was little. A good scare is great and I love the idea you can get people to feel things without having to show it to them," she added. (ANI)